Divorcing a spouse who lives outside of Texas

What do you do when you are still living in Texas but your spouse moves away? Where do you file for divorce if your spouse lives out of state? Texas Family Code 6.305 Provides that if the petitioner is a domiciliary of this state, i.e., has lived in Texas for at least 6 months and in the County they’re filing for at least 90 days, then the Court can exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident if: (1) this state is the last marital residence of the parties and two years has not elapsed since that marital residence ended; and (2) there is any basis consisted with the Constitution of this state and the United States for the exercise of personal jurisdiction [over respondent].

This means that, if you and your spouse are living in Texas and that’s the last place you’ve lived together as Husband and Wife, then you can still file here in Texas. As long as you both lived here for the requisite 6 months, then you can file here. If it’s been more than 2 years since you two lived together as Husband and Wife then you might have to file in the state where the other spouse lives. An attorney should be able to discuss the details of your case and be able to determine whether you can file here in Texas or not.